Saurashtra’s veteran batter Sheldon Jackson made his 100th Ranji Trophy match even more special by etching his name in the record books in the ongoing group stage clash against Assam on the opening day at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday (January 30).
Sheldon Jackson made history by becoming the highest six-hitter in the Ranji Trophy during Saurashtra’s final league match against Assam. The 38-year-old veteran achieved this milestone with the record-breaking six off Assam pacer Rahul Singh over cow corner.
Sheldon Jackson Becomes highest six-hitter in the history of Ranji Trophy
With this maximum, Jackson surpassed the former Indian wicketkeeper Naman Ojha’s tally of 143 sixes. He came to bat at number three in the must-win game for Saurashtra and went on to score 48 runs off 86 balls before being dismissed by Riyan Parag.
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Jackson hit five boundaries and one six during his knock against Assam in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25 clash in Rajkot. With this knock, the right-handed batter also became Saurashtra’s third-highest run-scorer with over 6600 runs to his name in the Ranji Trophy. He is now only behind Cheteshwar Pujara and Sitanshu Kotak.
Jackson is also the second-highest century-maker for Saurashtra in first-class cricket, with 19 tons to his name. He is now trailing behind only Pujara’s 25 centuries for the team. With his latest milestone, Sheldon Jackson joined an elite club of just six batters who have hit over 100 sixes in Ranji Trophy history.
Sheldon Jackson joins an elite list of domestic stars
Manish Pandey, Paras Dogra, Saurabh Tiwary, and Yusuf Pathan are the other members of this exclusive list who have more than 100 sixes in the Ranji Trophy. Since he made his first-class debut in the 2011-12 season, Jackson has amassed over 7000 runs.
Well, Jackson scored 238 runs across seven innings, including two half-centuries, in the first five rounds of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024-25. Earlier this month, Jackson retired from domestic white-ball cricket after 19 years.
He has played 86 List A matches and 85 T20 matches and amassed 2792 runs and 1812 runs, respectively. Unfortunately, the wicketkeeper-batter has never got the chance to play for India. However, Jackson played nine matches for KKR and scored 72 runs in the IPL.
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Can Jackson help Saurashtra lift the Ranji Trophy for the third time?
Notably, Jackson played a key role in Saurashtra’s first-ever Ranji Trophy win in the 2019-20 season. He was the team’s top scorer with 809 runs at an impressive average of over 50, including three centuries to his name.
In the 2022-23 season, he continued his brilliant form, scoring 588 runs as Saurashtra claimed their second title. His 160-run knock in the semi-final against Karnataka was a major highlight of the last season.
Saurashtra is currently in the third spot in the Group D points table with 18 runs from 6 games, and now they have to beat Assam in their last group match to make it to the next round, as Tamil Nadu has already ensured their qualification from this group with 25 points.